I HAVE A PIONEER VSX35 ELITE RECEIVER THAT HAS BEEN OVERLOADING. IT SEEMS TO NEED MORE VOLUME TO MAINTAIN NORMAL LEVELS. IT CYCLED OFF THEN CAME BACK ON TWICE. NOW IT ACKS LIKE THERE IS NO OWER, ONLY RED LIGHT IS ON. IS IT MORE EXPENSIVE TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT AND FIXED THAN TO JUST PURCHASE ANOTHER ONE.

I am trying to work out which has got the high volume.
If it is the Pioneer then it could be the volume control chip that is faulty. These days volume is no longer determined by a control that adjusts the signal level. The signal is passed to a chip and the volume control setting information is also passed to the same chip. If the chip goes faulty then the volume will sometimes go to max, regardless of the volume control setting. This can also apply to the TV sound as well.
If the sound level is high on other functions of the receiver, such as the radio, then it is certain to be the sound volume control IC.

it's because it uses ama motorized potentiometer for the volume level, I think that its neccesary to change it

You are doing nothing wrong at all. It's just that as you say it has no phono input. Which means the sockets you have will NOT amplify the signal. So you need to buy a magnetic cartridge pre-amp and once connected to the aux the weak signal will be at the normal level.

Make sure the speaker wires are tight.

http://www.retrevo.com/support/Pioneer-VSX-820-K-Receivers-manual/id/23653ag912/t/2/

Generally speaking, an amp protects itself from heat, shorts and overloads.

Overloads can be from excessive periods of high output and shorts would be wiring issues or a speaker blowing up.

You should be able to feel if it's hot. WHY is it overheating? Make sure it has sufficient ventilation on all sides and that vent holes are not blocked by dust balls. Ensure the fan (if equipped) is running as designed (some only operate on demand). Clean dust and debris from it.

If the amp comes back on after cooling, you're lucky. They only have so many self-protection cycles in their lives so continuously resetting or cycling their power without addressing the cause can do more harm than good.

If it protects immediately on a cool power up you should disconnect the speaker connections and try it 'naked'. If it comes up then diagnose which lead(s) are shorted. If it does not come up the problem is internal and should be left to an experienced hands-on tech.

Sounds like the speaker circuit is overloading or the receiver is overheating.

Check to make sure all speakers are in phase. Pos to Pos. Neg to Neg.

Make sure receiver has plenty of cooling room.

Hope this helps.

try connecting only 1 speaker at a time. try it on each of the binding posts (connection terminals), crank it up to locate which one of the speaker terminals is overloading the amplifier.

Then connect a different speaker to that terminal to see if it still overloads. This should determine if its the speaker that is overloading that particular terminal or if something is wrong with the amplifier.

Just for fun make sure that the cables you are using don't have any fraying and that none of the speaker binding posts have any loose strands of wire possibly grounding out to the chassis of the receiver.

OVERLOAD indicator
This lights when an analog signal is too strong (the
SIGNAL SELECT needs to be on ANALOG). It
indicates the sound is distorting and the signal
should be reduced.

Sounds like a bad amplifier IC.
Unhook all speakers at the back of your pioneer. turn it on and turn down the volume. If it's no longer in overload you have a bad speaker or speaker wires touching somewhere.
If its still in overload it's prlobley a amp IC and will cost between $25-$60 just for the part if you can replace it yourself.

Ok, how much is "a bit"? If you are operating your unit at the 50% or more level, your unit is working as it should, as DVD and CD players output more signal than other sources...accordianman

When I had problems with my VSX-D608, I resorted to downloading the manual for VSX21. This model seems to have the same features in the ELITE form. It has helped me figure out some speaker problems.